Boeing eyes higher output as Air India, Akasa await bulk jet deliveries

“As we target a production rate of 47 per month in the near term, the ramp‑up enables greater predictability. A tighter supply chain oversight has already driven a 60% reduction in source‑level issues," a Boeing spokesperson told Mint.

Boeing's planned production ramp-up comes at a time when India’s air carriers have complained that supply delays by plane makers have hurt expansion plans. Tata-owned Air India Group has placed orders for nearly 570 jets spread between two original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) - European plane maker Airbus and Boeing. SNV Aviation-owned Akasa will have an all-Boeing fleet of 226 aircraft. InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which runs India's largest airline IndiGo, has an all-Airbus fleet.

“As Indian airline customers look to grow their short- and long-haul operations, the ramp-up resulting from our improvements in safety and quality will provide stability and predictability for customers in India, supporting growth across narrow‑ and wide‑body fleets," the Boeing spokesperson added.

Air India status

in 2023, Air India’s 570 plane order included 220 Boeing jets spread between narrow-body (for short-haul international and domestic operations) and twin-aisle ones (primarily for long-haul international operations). The orders consist of 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777-X, and 190 Boeing 737-8 (narrow body). Since September 2023, Air India has taken delivery of 35 Boeing 737-8 single-aisle aircraft. The first line-fit, airline-customized wide-body aircraft—a Boeing 787-9 —is expected to be delivered in late December or early January.

An Air India executive, requesting anonymity, said that the pending orders from Boeing (around 184) include 19 Dreamliners, 10-odd 777-Xs and 155 narrow-bodied aircraft.

Campbell Wilson, chief executive officer of Air India, told reporters in October that the airline will induct a new wide-body aircraft every six weeks in 2026, along with the refurbishment of its legacy Boeing jets.

“Through the course of 2026 there is a massive ramp-up in our wide-body induction (including supplies from Airbus)," he had then said. The airline has a fleet size of 297, across both Air India and Air India Express, with nearly 110 of these being Boeing jets.

Incidentally, Air India is eyeing induction of one plane a week (both narrow and wide-body together), at par with market leader IndiGo.

Akasa orders

Akasa has an all-Boeing fleet size of 31, with the last plane, a 737 Max, inducted earlier this month.

During a townhall last week, Vinay Dube, founder and chief executive of the airline, said it was expecting faster delivery of aircraft. Induction would be 1-2 planes a month, next year onwards, in line with its earlier guidance. The company had stopped giving fleet guidance this year onwards following supply delays.

In November, Praveen Iyer, co-founder and chief commercial officer of the airline, had told Mint that with Boeing increasing production, Akasa was expecting faster aircraft deliveries.

Production ramp-up

Boeing’s current single-aisle aircraft production facility at Renton in Washington - the only one - has risen to 42 a month since October, from 38 earlier. "We will get the production up to 47/month in late spring- early summer of next year," Katie Ringgold, vice-president and general manager, 737 program, Renton Site Leader, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said.

Production of 787 Dreamliner - a wide-body jet, at the North Charleston facility, will also be ramped up to 10 a month, up from the existing 8.

(The reporter was in the US last week and visited Boeing’s facilities at Renton, Everett and Charleston at the invitation of the plane maker.)